EASY A (2010)

EASY A (2010)

Tagline: Let's not and say we did.

(Drama, Comedy, The Accelerated Velocity of Terminological Inexactitude) [PG-13]

Whatever happened to chivalry? Does it only exist in 80's movies? I want John Cusack holding a boombox outside my window. I wanna ride off on a lawnmower with Patrick Dempsey. I want Jake from Sixteen Candles waiting outside the church for me. I want Judd Nelson thrusting his fist into the air because he knows he got me. Just once I want my life to be like an 80's movie, preferably one with a really awesome musical number for no apparent reason. But no, no, John Hughes did not direct my life.

In this one, a rumor starts to spread about a high school girl named Olive that she lost her virginity gets spread. Turns out it’s a little white lie told by Olive herself. Subsequently Olive is studying “The Scarlet Letter” in school. She ends up parleying that into the use of the rumor mill that starts to spiral out of control. While getting financial gain and notoriety, she also becomes known as the school’s harlot even to the point of losing her close friend Rhiannon over it. As Olive struggles to retract it all, very real secrets become known, and very real friends start to surface. 

First off, I think it’s rad that Emma Stone (ZOMBIELAND) who plays Olive in this is actually from Scottsdale, AZ. That is literally like 13 miles from me. It’s pretty rare that I do a review and find out the main actor or any actor is from Arizona, much less right down the road. I kind of wonder if everyone and their brother was trying to date her back in the day before she got huge? Let me be clear that I do really like Emma Stone, most of her film choices are fine. Some however are a bit iffy, but I digress. 

Her performance in this movie is top notch and it’s probably one of her best films aside from BIRDMAN OR (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE) which is a film that stretched her a bit more emotionally than this thing. I do wish she has stuck with SUCKER PUNCH rather than doing this movie, but here we are. What sucks about this movie has nothing to do with her. What is great about this movie has everything to do with her. 

When it comes to the writing this thing is pretty solid for most of its run time. I have no idea why they had to cram in the angst between Olive and Rhiannon. I get that giving Olive some consequences regarding her friends was the point, but the whole freakin school was pretty much against her or after her, so that plot point kind of sucked a lot of what could have been depth and heart in this movie. In Rhiannon’s place who they kind of turn into a heartless shallow character, we get Olive’s parents as kind of the “buddy” parents who come across as tacky enablers rather than being there to actually help Olive. The soundtrack is one of the worst of the “let’s have a high school comedy-drama” movies that have come out since 1990. The pacing is just okay and for the majority of this movie, I kind of was just hoping to see Olive waxing philosophical from her laptop over watching everything else. All of the best dialog with the exception of the very last scene was put into the scenes where Olive is just talking to her computer. 

Acting wise we get Penn Badgley (from the TV series YOU) and he does a good job in the 3 minutes or so of screen time he actually gets. He also has a big impact on the storyline itself. Thomas Haden Church (SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME) does a solid job as Mr. Griffith. Amanda Bynes (SHE’S THE MAN) is solid as Marianne, but apparently, this was also the role that caused her to quit acting. I know Amanda has been going through rough times and I really hope she gets the help she needs. She is definitely in my prayers. Then we also get Lisa Kudrow as Mrs. Griffith and Aly Michalka as Rhiannon. I have a really awesome friend named Rhiannon, but both Lisa and Aly got the short end of the stick in this film. Both their roles in this film suck. Fortunately for Aly, she had a great run in the TV series iZombie. 

Overall this thing has its moments and taken with a grain of salt it’s not that bad. It’s also not nearly as good as a lot of people seem to think it is. It did make me want to vomit enough to fill a pocket full of sunshine, but it still lands at a 4 out of 7 for me. I had considered giving this a 5, but the mom basically saying she was really a floozy unlike Olive who really wasn't, was a pretty cringy touch. I also think it’s weird that so many dudes in this movie wanted to get popular by being able to say they slept with Olive or touched her? What? How? Sorry dudes, that isn’t a badge of honor. 

That’s it, that’s the review. You can go back to your day.

I got a pocket....just kidding... 

I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine...nope, reviews over go back to your day. 

I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine
I got a love and I know that it's all mine, oh, oh-oh...nothing to see here.

I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine
I got a love and I know that it's all mine, oh, oh-oh
Do what you want but you're never gonna break me
Sticks and stones are never gonna shake me, oh, oh-oh...okay, I am stopping here...

I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine
I got a love and I know that it's all mine, oh, oh-oh
Do what you want but you're never gonna break me
Sticks and stones are never gonna shake me, oh, oh-oh
Take me away (Take me away)
A secret place (A secret place)
A sweet escape (A sweet escape)
Take me away (Take me away)

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF SCREEN GEMS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.